‘Democratic leadership has to take a much stronger stand against the Trump administration,’ one candidate told Axios
Insurgent Democratic congressional candidates are vowing to be “ruthless” in opposing House minority leader Hakeem Jeffries (N.Y.) and the party’s other “establishment” leaders, a dynamic that could splinter the party ahead of next year’s midterm elections.
“Democratic congressional candidates nationwide, feeding off voter fury, are raging against their leadership and vowing to be ruthless,” Axios reported. Dozens of candidates have declined to support Jeffries, with just 31 of the 113 Democratic candidates polled by Axios backing the minority leader.
Some of those candidates, such as Nancy Pelosi challenger Saikat Chakrabarti, are facing off against “longtime Democratic incumbents,” while others, including progressive influencer Kat Abughazaleh, are “running in open primaries in blue or purple seats,” according to Axios.
“Democratic leadership has to take a much stronger stand against the Trump administration,” one Democratic candidate said.
One source of left-wing ire is Jeffries’s hesitancy to endorse Democratic New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani, a socialist. The minority leader might have given in to leftists’ demands, however, saying this week that he expects to weigh in on the race before early voting begins on October 25.
Democrats lag far behind Republicans in fundraising and face troubling polling. The Republican National Committee has trounced its Democratic counterpart in raising cash, with nearly $86 million on hand compared with Democrats’ $12 million, according to filings at the end of September.
The DNC has trailed the RNC in fundraising since President Donald Trump’s election last year, with donors telling Politico in August that they see the party as “rudderless, off message and leaderless” under Chairman Ken Martin.
Recent polling, meanwhile, suggests that Democrats are in a relatively weak position in next year’s midterm elections. While midterms are historically easier for the party out of power, an Emerson College poll found Democrats with a less-than-2-point advantage. In 2018, by contrast, polls gave Democrats a 7.3-point lead, and the party ended up winning the popular vote by 8.4 points, Newsweek noted.
“People are angry, they are frustrated, they are deeply dismayed by what they are seeing, of course by the Trump administration, but honestly a lot is a profound disappointment with the Democrats,” one congressional candidate told Axios.
